Starter for motor-car engines.



w. FLOYD. STARTER FOB MOTOR GAR ENGINES.

APPLIOATION TILED JUNE 8,1908.

Pgtented Dec. 15,1908

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

a 3 v I ////////V/ 2 v y m n A 3 A I 0 one i Inventor:

A ttest 4(m W. FLOYD.

STARTER FOR MOTOR GAR ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8,1908.

PatentedDec. 15, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I To all whom it may concern:

WILLIA M- rLo-Yn, OFMASTIO, NEW YORK.

' sran'mn Ion moron-can ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, mos.

Application filed rum 8, 1908. Serial No. 437,800.

Be it known that I, WILL'IAM FLOYD, a citizen ..0f the United States,residing at Mas,-

' tic, Long Island, State of. New York, have I ca .the driver of themotor-car, mountin is enabled to'rotate the: crankinvented eertain newand useful Improvements in'Starters for Motor-Car Engines, of

which the following is a full, true, and concise specification. Thisinvention, a starter for'motor-car and similar engines, aims to providea. mechanism of simple and reliab e nature, whereby without "dis shaftor y-wheel ofthe engine and thereby produce an initial compression offuel re- (lilllll'ed for setting the engine in motion, and t e inventionconsists in the construction,

operation and combination of-theseveral parts hereinafter describedwhereby these; and other desirable results are attainedand whereby saidmechanism is adaptable to dif- 1 a familiar arrangement.

bracing the fl'y-wheel.

ferent t es of motor. cars. 1

Referring to the two sheets of drawings forming a part hereof, Figure 1shows in elevation astarting apparatus embodying my invention and aplied to the fly-wheel of an ordinary type of motor-car; Fig.2 isanenlarged sectional view of a portion of the apparatus with parts inelevation and showingthe'buckle in 1011 itudinal section on line IIII ofFig. 3; Fig. 3 is. a plan detail of the buckle showing the relation ofadjacent parts, F' .4 is a sectional view of the girdle on line I$IV ofFig.2; and Figs. 5 and 6 are alternate details. a

In'the type of car with which the invention is illustrated the enginecrank-shaft 1 is dis osed between and parallel withthe sidegir ers2 ofthe car frame and also between the side-bars 3' of interior engineframe. The fly-wheel. 4 is located just'beneath the flooring 5 which isunder the oper'ators feet in the relation indicated b Fig. 1,this'beinghe startin mechanism comprises a flexible band 6 of eather or similarmaterial constituting a dle em- One 'end 0 the strap is connected to thecross-ba'rilpf a buckle 8,

, while the other. end ora connection thereto is passed through thebuckle over a roller 9 therein and joined to a flexiblecord or cable 10,which latter is trained over a fixed'sheave 11 andfrom'thence passesthrough the floor-,1

' rection, whether such movement is ue to the ing. 5 where'ititerminates in an operatin Y of the leather strap or girdleisconnected hand-grip. In the present instance the en .glrdle fromdrooping below the wheel.

with the cable 10 b a flat. chain 12 which works freely throug thebuckle and u on the roller, and the arts are so arranged .t at a pull onthe handle will tighten the strap upon thewheel if the latter is not inmotion,

and a continued pull will move the strap or girdle in a circumferentialdirection, thereby rotating the wheel forwardly or in the direc'.

tion indicated by'thearrow A restoring mechanism, which includes aspring roller 13 and a flat wire 14 thereon, is connected to the girdleor preferably tothe tail of the buckle .as shown, for roviding asufficient yielding resistance to t e forward pull toproduce theinitialgri ping action and also'for returnin the hue e and girdle to originalor norma position. As a matter of convenience the return wire isprovided with a snap-hook 19 by which it is detachably connected to aneye in the buckle. A fiat'band of sprin steel 15 is associated with theleather; girdle, being preferably securedto the outer side thereof asshown in Figs. 2 and 4, for the urpose of facilitating the opening ofthe gir e when the actuating mec anism is released, and the said s ringband also serves tostrengthen the ird e and hold it out of contact withthe w eel while the latter is revolving. The chain 12 is provided withan adjustable stop shown at 16 which limits its movement through thebuckle and holds 'lt te e y-wheel may be forwardly rotated by pullingthe. handle in obvious manner so that c'ompression and combustion takeplace with-- in the engine and the wheel takes up its own ati'ng'mechanism automaticallyloosens the grip and allows the girdle to expandunder sure such automatic release of the girdle, an

abutment is provided against which thenose of thebuckle may strike toprevent its further travel with the-wheel. Such an abut- "mentis shownherein as a spring buffer: 17 the construction of which will be apparentfrom the drawing. Alikeabutment or buffer '18 'is also provided on theopposite side of-the fly-wheel for the pur ose of limiting themovementof the hue aim the op osi-te dinormal action of the spring roller 13 orto a rotation, whereupon the relative forward .niotion of the wheel withrespect to the actuinc the engine. In the case of a backfire, the handrip is jerked from the operator's grasp (whic may obviously take placewithout risk of injury to him) and the tension in the there y preventdamage to the mechanism.

The ends of the buckle are preferably turned somewhat outwardly in orderto make reliable engagement with their respective buffers.

The fixed parts of the starting mechanism are attached to the side-barsof the frame 2 and 3 above mentioned and are located in the plane of thefly-wheel, but in other types of cars these parts may be secured to suchother fixed members as may be adjacent to the wheel and may be attached,if desired, to the car-body. As shown herein, the sheave 11 is journaledin a standard 20 that rests upon a uide-plate 21, both of which are clamed y a bolt tothe flanges of the frame.- he guide-plate 21 is adjustabletoward and from the fly-wheel and forms a shelf support for the springbuffer 17 above described and at its inner end terminates in forkedmembers 22 which embrace the peripheral edge of the fiy-wheel to confinethe girdle thereto. -As shown in Fig. 6 the forked members 22 arerelatively adjustable toward and from each other, in order toaccommodate different thicknesses of flywheels. The spring buffer 18 issupported on a similar. guide-plate shelf 23 adjustably' clamped totheframe on the opposite side of the wheel. The roller of the spring return1 mechanism is conveniently mounted on the under side of the frame barsas indicated in Fig. 1 where it will exert a more or less constantpressure upon the buckle or irdle.

' The roller itself may be of any desire construction. In themodification shown in prising a buckle, a contractible girdle em racingthe part to be revolved and having oneend connected with said buckle, incombination'with a chain connected to the other end of said girdle andpassed through the v buckle and constituting means for contracting andmoving said girdle in a cir-- cumferential direction.

2. In a starter for motor-car en mes, a

buckle, a fiexible'girdle embracin t e part to be revolved and havingone en attached to said buckle and the other end passed therethrough andconstituting an actuating connection for contracting and forwardlgmoving said girdle, in combination wi means for returning said girdle ina reverse direction.

3. Ina starterfor motor-car engines, a fly-wheel gripping deviceincluding a buckle with an out-turned end adapted to cooperate with anabutment for arresting themovement of said gripping device.

4. In a starter for motor-car engines a fly-Wheel gripping deviceincluding a girdle and a buckle in combination with a sprin return forsaid device connected to' the en of said buckle.

.- In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to the specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. WILLIAM FLOYD. l/Vitrlesses:

H. G. KIMBALL, CLIFFORD H. KLos.

